Whats Going On In The Community
by Farley Warshaw

Last week on Tuesday, May 6th, some 230 people from CSDR community went to meet Inland Empire 66ers deaf pitcher, Ryan Ketchner. He met with us prior to the game and chatted with us about his baseball life. We were surprised at his sign language which was pretty good for a person who attended public school in Florida. He is in his third year of farm system after playing in Everett, WA (Rookie League), Wisconsin (lower 1A League), then now with Inland Empire 66ers (California League - High 1A League). California League plays Carolina League in annual All-Star game.

He spent half hour with us and autographed as many as he can with CSDR students. Unfortunately he had hoped the manager would pencil him as a starter on that night. Instead he was scheduled to pitch on Thursday, May 8th. He took off his uniform and performed his duty as a radar gun for his team. The owner of Inland-Empire 66ers realized we came to watch him pitch and was generous in extending us an invitation to watch him pitch last Thursday, May 8th. Some 70 of us including myself went to watch him pitch.

Last Thursday, May 8th was Ryan's second start of the year after being assigned as a relief pitcher. However, after 9 games including one game as a starter has convinced the manager to start Ryan last Thursday. Prior to last Thursday's game, he led on the team with strikeouts per game and his last starting game was two weeks ago in which he pitched 6 innings and surrendered only 1 run.

Prior to the game, we observed his pre-game pitching. He is lefty and commands 88-90 mph fastball but his strongest suit are change-up and location.

In first inning he striked out 2 batters. In second inning he striked out California League's leading home run hitter with 17 home runs. For first 4 2/3 innings he pitched perfect game with 5 strikeouts. He just pitched for strikes and were not afraid of batters. In between innings Inland Empire pitching coach spent a considerable time to discuss with Ryan and catcher about Ryan's pitching and his mechanics. Coach had to talk with him face to face and his battery mate has to use glove to block their conversation during mound conference to prevent opponent team from observing their conversation. A batter hit a blooper for a single to break Ryan's no-hitter. By the time he pitched 6 1/3 innings he was tired and his mph was down to 85 and the manager came to the mound and took him out of the game. He received a standing ovation from everyone plus 70 of us. After the game, his ERA was lowered to 2.97 and now leads in strikeouts for his team with 42 and has 4-1 record. After the game, the manager announced Ryan is promoted to starter and is tentatively scheduled to pitch this Friday, May 16th. He will email me when he is confirmed he will pitch on that day. His stat can be found at this site, www.californialeague.com

Before the game was over I had a chance to chat with Ryan's teammate, Greg Jacobs, an outfielder and he signs well because he has deaf brother. He spends his time with Ryan.

After the game, some 35 of us met with Ryan and he was given CSDR's polo shirt with school logo. He will visit CSDR on one of his day off in near future. He chatted with us and we complimented how well he pitched the game and he is only 21 years old. He has his eyes set for major league. I met with event coordinator at the game and he informed me Ryan's stock has risen lately and he is now projected number 30 on Seattle Mariners' prospective list.

All of us were equally impressed with his signing skills and his personality was great. From my observation, he is really a good pitcher and commands his pitches well. He goes for strike zone and has ability to find right location. Last Saturday in Riverside Press-Enterprise's weekly report on California League, there was a comment by players from High Desert Mavericks that they had hard time with Ryan because he did not give them any clue every time Ryan pitched.

His next stop will be San Antonio (2AA). I won't be surprised if he will be promoted in near future. Deaf community in San Antonio needs to be prepared to receive him and give him support. Ryan really enjoys seeing us at the game and he will enjoy seeing deaf people from San Antonio watch him, too.

He did pitch in 3AAA last August when he was promoted to Tacoma in Pacific Coast League and pitched in last game of the season. He pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs.

Way to go, Ryan!